//------------------------------// // Build Up Speed // Story: Cybertron Girls // by SonicSpeedster97 //------------------------------// Retrofit was reasonably surprised about the news that his newest guests were organics – especially after they had to explain it themselves when Hot Rod and Clocker were too flabbergasted to say anything for themselves – but once they got over it, they got to work on getting Rainbow’s bot-mode revved up to race Override. “How’re the electricals holding up?” Retrofit asked as they checked systems. “Lookin’ good so far,” Twilight reported. “I’m still not convinced removing the self-diagnostic core was the best idea though.” “Eh, it was just slowing me down.” Rainbow shrugged as Lifeline’s holomatter avatar attended to her forehead. “Take that and some other junk out and I’ll be the fastest thing this planet’s ever seen, I promise you that.” “We’re on a mission, remember?” Bumblebee reminded. “We’re just here for the Galaxy Key; nothing else.” “Why do you think I’m getting my speed amped up? If we want to get the key, we have to win the Planet Cup.” Rainbow argued. “Oh sure, that’s why you’re doing it,” Sunset remarked sarcastically. “What’s that supposed to mean?” Rainbow asked in annoyance as she stood up and looked her friend in the face. “I mean this isn’t just about the Key to you.” Sunset pointed out bitterly. “It’s about ego. You just want to show off on another planet. Do you even really care about the mission? About us?” “Take that back!” Rainbow snarled as she charged her friend. “Hey-hey-hey, easy!” Moonracer interrupted, quickly jumping in with her holomatter avatar – an average-sized human in a teal biker’s bodysuit with teal hair and blue eyes – before things got ugly. “Everyone just calm down; save your aggression for the Decepticons.” “That’s not a bad idea,” Sunset remarked bitterly as she stepped out of the garage. “Where are you going?” asked Twilight. “For a drive,” Sunset said simply as she activated her car mode and drove off the farm. “Pfft. Good riddance.” Rainbow scowled as she moved back to her own car. “I’ll go talk to her,” Bumblebee assured as he raced after Sunset. Twilight sighed as she sat down and looked at Spike. “This is getting hairy, isn’t it?” Spike asked. “No doubt about that.” Twilight shrugged. “I’m starting to think we should call for backup just to help calm things down.” “Who says we need it? Just one good race and that key is ours.” Rainbow smirked as her car mode was detached from Retrofit’s various diagnostic systems. “Let’s see how I ride this time.” “Fine by me.” Retrofit smiled as he, Clocker, and Hot Rod transformed, leading Rainbow out to the highway. “C'mon, we’d better make sure she doesn’t knock herself to scrap,” Sideswipe suggested as he and the others raced after her, finding her opening it up on the highway. “Alright, now we’re talkin’!” Rainbow smirked as she put the pedal to the metal. “Alright, lookin’ good.” Hot Rod smiled. “Now remember; we fueled those boosters with Red Energon, and it packs a hell of a kick.” “We’ll see about that!” Rainbow smirked as she slammed the button on her dash, firing the rockets again and sending her racing down the highway faster than before. “WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-HOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!” she screamed as she shot down the road. “Whoa-whoa-whoa, Rainbow; slow down!” Hot Rod yelled as he blasted after her on a nitro-kick, only barely keeping up… as he saw her wheels bouncing dangerously. “Rainbow, your suspension’s off! You’ve gotta stop before you crash again!” “Catch me if you can!” Rainbow smirked, having misheard Hot Rod’s warning as a challenge… but she clearly understood it when she started to lose control near an upcoming turn. “Oh man, not again!” Quickly Hot Rod and Clocker transformed and blasted a hole in the wall for Rainbow to safely fly through, which she did, allowing her to transform back to bot mode and skid to a stop on another road. “Whew. Okay, that was not fun.” Hot Rod remarked as the others caught up. “I think we made you too light.” Retrofit pointed out. “Ya think?” asked Sideswipe. “My center of gravity feels off too; think you can fix it?” Rainbow asked, apparently doing her best to steady herself. “At this point, I think the best course of action is to get you back to the correct weight.” Lifeline shrugged. “No, just do enough to get me back in balance; I can handle the rest.” Rainbow insisted. “Fine.” Lifeline shrugged before she checked her time readout. “Just about time for the check-in to Optimus. Think Sunset’s doing it?” “We’d better hope so,” Twilight noted. And indeed she was, way out in the desert as she opened the com-line. “Sunset Shimmer to Ark; come in, Ark.” “This is Elita-1, Sunset Shimmer.” the commander returned. “What do you have to report?” “Nothing definite yet, Elita; Rainbow Dash is… trying to follow up on some new leads,” she reported. “We’ll call back in when we find something.” “Understood. I’m sure you’re doing your best. Elita-1 out.” the communication terminated and Sunset sighed as she sat down in the sand. “You didn’t tell her about Rainbow modifying her car form?” Sunset didn’t even react; she knew Bumblebee was following her. “It’s too great a sacrifice.” she returned simply. “I don’t want to have to tell the bosses she’s tearing herself apart based on a hunch.” “So you don’t believe the Planet Cup is the Galaxy Key.” Bumblebee surmised. “Frankly, I’m surprised you believe it.” Sunset pointed out. “The Primes worked in mysterious ways.” Bumblebee shrugged… before he looked over the ridge and saw some familiar grilles. “Heads up; Ransack and Crumplezone.” Sunset looked and indeed saw the two thugs, and they were talking to Dirtboss. “You two should’ve just fallen into that gorge.” Dirtboss scowled. “If Motormaster and his gang think they can disappear for a few thousand stellar cycles and then come back and order me around, they can all kiss my skid plate. I’ll take down Blurr and Override on my terms!” Suddenly he transformed, prompting the two goons to do the same which resulted in a three-way brawl that ended with Dirtboss in the dirt. “You always were thick-headed, Dirtboss, but this is ridiculous,” Ransack remarked. “You sure that skull-plating isn’t too thick?” “I got an idea; how about we check for ourselves?” Crumplezone smirked. “You’re more than willing to try!” Dirtboss scowled as he stood up and flipped his tailpipes over his shoulders, turning them into plasma blasters that fired at the goons, but it barely scratched them as they returned fire, knocking Dirtboss to the ground. Sunset almost jumped in, but she shook her head. “No. This is just how Rainbow got suckered into this whole thing.” “He’s outmatched, Sunset. He needs help.” Bumblebee pointed out. He was right; Ransack placed his foot on Dirtboss’s chest and aimed his blaster at his head. “C'mon, wouldn’t you rather have us as friends than enemies? Join up with us and Override is scrap metal.” “If you won’t jump in, I will.” Bumblebee scowled… but found he didn’t have to as Override and Blurr both raced in and transformed. “What’s goin’ on here?” Override asked. “What’s it look like, your former highness?” Ransack smirked. “Just bein’ helpful citizens is all.” “He fell, and he’s cryin’ like a compact!” Crumplezone laughed. “So-he-just-happened-to-fall-down-right-before-we-got-here-sorry-boys-I-just-don’t-believe-that-it-makes-no-sense-no-sense-no-sense.” Blurr remarked quickly. “C'mon Dirtboss, get up.” Override said as she offered him a hand. Dirtboss just smacked her hand away and stood up on his own. “I’ve had enough of your charity, Override. I certainly don’t need it now.” “Have it your way.” Override scowled as she stepped away, glaring at Blurr. “See you at the Planet Cup.” With that, she transformed and raced off as Blurr raced away in the opposite direction. Dirtboss scowled as he looked at Ransack and Crumplezone. “Scrap metal, huh? Alright, count me in.” he scowled, earning a laugh from the other two goons. Sunset and Bumblebee slid down in the dirt on the ridge, looking at each other with incredulous looks on their faces. “Override rebounded from Sideswipe to that tool?” Sunset asked in surprise. “I think we’ve got bigger problems than that; that’s three new goons for the Decepticons.” Bumblebee pointed out. “And with Rainbow on a warpath to scrap herself to the finish line…” “You’re right.” Sunset nodded. “Make the call.” Bumblebee nodded and turned on his commlink. “Bumblebee and Sunset Shimmer to Ark; Priority One. Optimus, do you copy?” “Report, Bumblebee,” Optimus ordered. “Optimus, we need you and the others on Velocitron ASAP,” he reported. “Bring Ratchet and Ironhide.” “What seems to be the problem?” “It’s a delicate situation,” Sunset said simply. “The major problem is that the Decepticons beat us here and they’re almost to the Galaxy Key.” “Understood. We’re on our way.” The communication was terminated. “We’d better get back to the others,” Bumblebee noted as he transformed and raced across the desert with Sunset on his tail. (Eurobeat Intensifies) Further out in the desert, they found Rainbow Dash… in what appeared to be a race with Dirtboss, with Ransack and Crumplezone bringing up the rear behind the two. “Wha- how’d those guys get ahead of us?” asked Sunset. “Ransack and Crumplezone know every shortcut on this planet like the backs of their fenders.” Hot Rod remarked as he raced alongside them. “And they’re willing to do anything to get their way.” “Including this time, huh?” Sunset shrugged as the rest of the team raced behind the group. Quickly Sunset tuned her coms to Rainbow. “Rainbow, what’s going on here?” “What’s going on is that I’m getting something to show for my time here.” Rainbow scowled. “And I don’t need your help to do it.” “You sure you wanna play with the big boys, little girl?” Dirtboss snarled. “You might get hurt!” “Please, I could outdrive you on foot!” Rainbow smirked as she swerved around him, skidding onto the highway. “Whoo! Good luck tryin’ to beat me on the pavement, off-roader!” “The benefit to being an off-roader is all-wheel drive. And modular suspension!” On that cue, Dirtboss’s wheelbase lowered and splayed his tires out to take up two whole lanes, forcing Rainbow into the wall. “Gah! Hey, watch the paintjob!” Rainbow growled as she pushed back. “No one beats Dirtboss! You hear me?! Nobody!” Rainbow smirked as he swerved at her again, giving her a perfect chance to transform and flip over him, transforming back to car mode as he slammed into the wall and fell behind. “You sure about that?! Because I think I just did!” she joked, trying not to think about how she’d almost just gotten killed as she drove ahead. “Get back here, coward!” Dirtboss roared as he drove after her. “Rainbow, break off! Backup’s on the way!” Bumblebee called. “You hear that; break off!” “Something’s gonna break off, I can feel it!” Rainbow remarked as Dirtboss bashed her rear end over and over. “Nobody can help you now, little girl! Just you and me!” Dirtboss laughed madly. “This just got boring. Let’s just shoot ‘em.” Crumplezone suggested. “Whatever.” Ransack shrugged as they swerved off and found a ridge, where they transformed and readied their big guns, blasting down at Rainbow who swerved to avoid every shot. “Okay, now this is just getting ridiculous!” she yelled. “Hang on, Rainbow; I gotcha!” Hot Rod smiled as he transformed and fired triple bolts of plasma from the pipes on his arms at the two cheaters, but that didn’t seem to do anything as they kept blasting until Rainbow had spun out and Dirtboss roared ahead. “Alright, let’s finish this!” Ransack smiled as Crumplezone aimed his engine cannons at Rainbow. (Cut it) He nearly fired before a massive bolt of energy shot near his feet and threw him off-balance. “Huh?!” He looked to the sight of a massive cloud of dust approaching, led by what looked like a big rig. “Motormaster?” “No.” Twilight smiled as she saw the dust break… to reveal Optimus, Ironhide, Ratchet, Hoist, Elita, Chromia, Arcee, Kup, and the rest of the girls, all of whom quickly braked to a hard stop on the highway and transformed, leveling every weapon they had at the Decepticons. “Leave. Now.” Optimus said with a tone of finality as his ion rifle whirred to life. “Don’t gotta tell us twice; we’re outta here!” Ransack yelled as he and Crumplezone transformed and raced away. “Thank the AllSpark.” Sunstreaker smiled as she and the others raced to Optimus’ side, transforming next to him as he lowered his weapon. “Ratchet, Rainbow needs serious medical attention.” “Alright, make a hole; medic comin’ through,” Ratchet ordered as he and Hoist moved to help Lifeline extricate Rainbow from her crash. “Who were those fellers?” asked Applejack. “Couple local punks we’ve been havin’ trouble with.” Sideswipe shrugged. “Turns out Motormaster and the Stunticons got here before us.” “That’s a bad turn.” Chromia sighed as Ratchet, Hoist, and Lifeline dragged Rainbow to the others. “I’m alright, I’m alright.” she insisted. “Ep-ep, leave the diagnoses to me please.” Ratchet insisted. “And I say you’re on the whole other end of the scale from ‘alright’.” “Her bot-mode’s barely functioning, Optimus; humans have guts, I’ll give ‘em that.” Hoist smiled. “So who wants to go first?” asked Elita. “It’s my fault, Optimus; the others all tried to stop me,” Rainbow assured weakly. “We found a lead on the Galaxy Key and I’ve been pushing myself so I could win it.” “Win it?” asked Rarity. “Apparently, the key is the greatest racing trophy on the planet.” Bumblebee explained as a storm started to roll in. “The only way we can get it is if we win it in the upcoming race.” “Sideswipe had some less than pleasant last words with the former champion last time he was here and he’s basically been banned from racing.” Sunstreaker continued. “Rainbow volunteered to represent our team, but she’s been going overboard with augmentation.” “Augmentation?! After an alt-mode reformat?!” Ratchet yelled in anger. “Kid’s lucky she hasn’t splattered herself all over the pavement yet.” “We’d better talk somewhere else. Storms get pretty bad in this part of the desert.” Hot Rod suggested. “C'mon, let’s get back to my Uncle Retrofit’s farm.” He transformed and led the way as Elita carried Rainbow on her bed. Back at the farm, Ratchet, Hoist, and Lifeline set to work on tending to Rainbow as best they could. “I appreciate your willingness to allow us here, Retrofit,” Optimus said simply. “Anytime. It’s not often we get a Prime around here for company.” Retrofit smiled. “It’s the least we can do after everything your boys have done for us here.” “Arcee, where’s that Energon?!” Ratchet ordered. “Right here,” Arcee noted as she raced to the medic’s side, handing him a large tank of medical Energon for Rainbow’s bot-form. Hot Rod narrowed his optics as he looked at her, seemingly confused. “Why was this kept from me?” Optimus asked in annoyance. “We didn’t want you to worry, Optimus.” Twilight shrugged. “We thought we could handle it ourselves. Turns out we were wrong.” “This is partly my fault too, Optimus,” Sideswipe noted. “I didn’t tell any of them about my relationship with Override. Next thing we know, Rainbow’s racing with her heart and not her head.” “That was not your decision to make,” Elita said firmly. “We know. But Rainbow does have the right idea; if we can win the Galaxy Key in this race, that’s one more win for us and one more loss for the Decepticons.” Sunset admitted. “And who has this trophy now?” asked Optimus. “His name’s Blurr; a long-time rival of Override,” Sideswipe answered. “And before you think of meeting with either of them Optimus, you have to know that Motormaster has made the Autobots out to be the instigators of the war. And even if he hadn’t, I doubt either of them will listen.” “I will see about that myself,” Optimus said simply. “Where can I find them?” “Blurr’s probably still up at the Champion’s Track practicing for the race.” Hot Rod noted. “Who knows where Override is.” Optimus simply narrowed his optics and transformed, rumbling to the Champion’s Track. When he arrived, he saw Blurr rocketing around the track like a bullet until the Prime eased into his way, forcing the champion to transform and skid to a stop next to him. “Move-aside-please-wide-load-I-have-a-race-to-win-and-I-can’t-train-to-win-a-race-with-my-training-track-blocked!” Optimus simply transformed and looked the bot in the optic. “Blurr. My name is Optimus Prime. You have met with my associates Sideswipe and Rainbow Dash.” “Sideswipe we both know.” Override’s voice came from behind him as she raced in and transformed. “And I’ve raced Rainbow Dash personally. I’m Override. So what are you here about this time; the Planet Cup or this war everyone keeps talking about?” Optimus opened his mouth to start, but Override raised her hand. “Y’know what? Forget it; we both heard the same sob story from Motormaster and your guys, so we’re not in the mood to hear it again. You want the Planet Cup, you gotta win it; that’s the law on Velocitron.” Optimus scowled. “Disappointing,” he said as he transformed and left, returning to the farm to find Rainbow had woken up and locked back into her bot-body. “How is she?” “Physically, both her bot-form and human body are as close to 100% as we could get ‘em.” Ratchet answered. “Psychologically is another matter.” “I can’t believe what I’m hearing,” Ironhide growled. “We’ve all taken a beatin’ every now and then, but we’ve kept goin’ in spite of it.” “As you see.” Ratchet remarked to Optimus, who saw the defeated look on Rainbow’s faceplate. “Lemme guess; Blurr and Override wouldn’t hear you out?” Rainbow said to Optimus without even looking at him. “No. They would not.” Optimus nodded. “Doesn’t surprise me. All those two care about is racing. And winning.” Rainbow sighed. “It’s all I cared about too, before I got here. I never should’ve come on this mission.” “Alright, who are you and what have you done with our Dashie?!” Pinkie accused. “She learned that the racers here are in a whole ‘nother league than her,” Rainbow said simply. “I don’t belong here. I’m no good to anyone.” Ironhide scowled and crossed his arms. “Someone had to say it; just glad it was you. Saves the rest of us a lot of trouble,” he grumbled. “What was that?!” Rainbow asked in annoyance. “Whoa, easy there, old timer.” Applejack remarked in surprise. “Winnin’ a war is hard ‘nuff without wildcards like you runnin’ round messin’ things up for everyone else.” Chromia scowled. “I’ll be glad to call for a SpaceBridge back to Earth for your useless chassis.” “I cannot believe I’m hearing this!” Twilight said in shock. “Neither can I. What the heck, you two?” asked Sideswipe. “How could you say that? Rainbow Dash saved our lives.” Clocker pointed to himself and Retrofit. “She’s the bravest bot I know, compared to you anyway.” “It’s okay, guys,” Rainbow said simply, stopping them all. “They’re right. I should just go home; at least it’s comfortable there.” She trudged out of the farmhouse and out into the rain, leaving the others stunned behind her. “Rainbow…” Hot Rod said as he went after her. “Well, now that you’ve thoroughly destroyed Rainbow Dash’s hopes and dreams, perhaps you’d like to tell the rest of us how you truly feel, Ironhide.” Rarity said in annoyance. “You shouldn’t judge him too hard, kid,” Kup assured. “Sometimes all it takes to get a bot back on the right road is some tough love.” “Heh. Young’ns these days.” Retrofit shook his head derisively. “You still don’t understand it, do you?” “Understand what?” asked Sunset. “That I can fix up Rainbow Dash until she’s genetically perfect with the best-maintained bot and car mode in the galaxy.” Ratchet pointed out. “But there isn’t a medic in the universe who can restore her spirit.” “That’s right. Right now, she’s lower than the bottom of your oil pan.” Retrofit continued. “But she’s still got her pride, so Ironhide had to say what he did. For a stubborn brat like Rainbow Dash, that’s the only way to snap ‘em out of a funk like that and get her fightin’ spirit back.” “But then we are just old rust buckets; what do we know?” Kup shrugged as the older bots all trudged out of the farmhouse. Applejack shook her head and chuckled. “What’s so funny?” asked Sunset. “It’s just… I dunno, hearin’ all that out loud from a buncha other old folks…” Applejack shrugged. “Kinda reminds me of all the times Granny Smith talked me outta doin’ somethin’ stupid like that.” Out on the ridge, Rainbow ran over what Ironhide said in her head over and over as she sat on the hood of her car; all she’d really done since she joined the Autobots was get in the way, mess up the mission, or put herself at risk. And here she’d somehow done all three at the same time. She looked over her shoulder and saw Hot Rod pull up next to her and looked away in disdain. “If you’re here to try and comfort me Hot Rod, save your breath.” Hot Rod turned his engine off and quickly projected a holomatter avatar of what looked like Sunset if she was a guy, but with a fiery wedge on his shirt and sat next to her on her car’s hood. “Y’know… Retrofit isn’t actually my uncle.” “Huh?” Rainbow asked in confusion. “Yeah. I took a CNA test about a hundred years ago.” Hot Rod nodded. “We’re not related, but he raised me like we are.” “Does he know?” asked Rainbow. “Nah, didn’t wanna ruin it for him.” Hot Rod assured. “You saw the old guy; it’d break his spark if he knew. Besides, he’s kinda my hero for putting up with me all these years. And when I found out you were the first one to jump in and save him, you kinda became a hero of mine too.” Rainbow raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Are- Are you hitting on me?” “Pfft. Primus, no.” Hot Rod assured with a chuckle. “I’m just sayin’ it because if you really wanna be a hero, you don’t have to save the universe every day. I ain’t givin’ up on you, but that means you can’t give up on yourself either. You got that?” “Yeah. Yeah, alright. I won’t give up. Not yet.” Rainbow smiled as she climbed back into her car. Hot Rod smiled and returned to his own body and they both drove back to the farm, where they found Optimus waiting. Rainbow promptly stood at attention and saluted. “Ready for orders, sir,” she said officially. “I relinquish command in this operation to you, Rainbow Dash,” Optimus said officially. Rainbow was more than surprised, as were the others. “Optimus, you can’t be serious.” Ratchet said seriously. “Override and Blurr will not listen to reason.” Optimus rebuked. “They have made it clear that they will only relinquish the Galaxy Key if one of us wins it in the Planet Cup. Therefore, that is what one of us must do. And since my vehicle mode is not suited to high-speed endeavors like this, Rainbow Dash will assume command.” Rainbow smiled broadly and leaped to hug Optimus. “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!” she said happily before she stepped back and got serious. “Alright folks, listen up; aside from Prime and Fluttershy, we’re all racin’ in the Planet Cup! We’ve got less than two days to get ready, so let’s hit the salt flats and get some practice in.” “Are you really sure we can win, Rainbow?” asked Sunset. “It’s not a matter of whether we can or not, Sunset.” Rainbow countered. “Either we win or the Decepticons get the advantage in the war. It’s our only option.” The others all smiled and nodded to each other as Twilight turned to Rainbow. “Whatever you say, team captain.” she smiled. “Thanks, guys. Medics!” Rainbow barked, turning to Ratchet, Hoist, Lifeline, and Fluttershy. “I want every last one of us in peak racing form!” “You realize that you’re the only one on this ‘team’ of yours who stands even half a chance of winning the race.” Ratchet pointed out. “Which is exactly why everyone else will be running blocker for me.” Rainbow smiled. “The Stunticons are gonna be playin’ dirty, and I don’t ‘em messin’ up my paintjob while I go for the gold.” “Just remember, Rainbow Dash; you might be our favorite to win, but you’re not alone out on that track.” Sunset reminded. “Harmony, remember?” “Right. Harmony.” Rainbow smiled and she and her friends all bumped metallic fists. “Chromia, you and Sunstreaker survey the track and distribute the data,” Elita ordered. “We’ll need to know what we’re getting into here.” “Yes ma’am.” Chromia saluted. “I have one more objective I’d like to suggest,” Sunset interjected. “Who runs the Planet Cup?” “The Supreme Turbo Committee in Crater City. They arrange the whole event every ten years.” Hot Rod answered. “Good. Then go to them and tell them this.” Sunset ordered, whispering the order to Hot Rod. He was a bit surprised by this order but nodded. “Understood. I’ll be back soon,” he assured and raced off the farm toward the city. “I tell you Sunset, this might be the best sporting event I’ve ever captained.” Rainbow smiled. “Save the ego for when you win.” Sunset smiled right back. “Because I know you won’t settle for second.” “Heck no I won’t.” Rainbow smiled, ready for the best race of her life.